shownotes_20100726

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is "Say Anything" by Manda and the Marbles
    Band's MySpace page
Sponsor
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      at the press of a button SMS and/ or email messages are sent out several different people or organizations with GPS data and contact details
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      Set up your iPhone as a motion detector
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      possible re-use for your old iPhone
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    USD $4.99 on the AppStore
News
  Apple's Third Quarter Results
    Revenue of $15.7 billion with net quarter profit of 3.25 billion. That's a year over year revenue gain of 61% with profits up 78%.
    3.47 million Macs sold. A quarterly record and up 33% year over year.
      Not concerned about iPad cannibalization.
    3.27 million iPads
    8.4 million iPhones, up 61% year over year.
      AT&T reported activating 3.2 million iPhones in the quarter. And that pre-order sales were10x higher than for the iPhone 3GS.
    iPod sales were down 8% with Apple selling 9.41 million in the quarter.
    International sales accounted for 52% of the quarter's revenue.
    Selling iPads and iPhones as fast as they can make them.
      Working to increase capacity and don't see any specific component shortages slowing production.
    Reported they expect the costs of free iPhone 4 cases to be around $175 million.
    iPhone and iPad in business
      60% of the Fortune 500 are deploying iPhones
      50% for the fortune 100 are deploying or testing the iPad
      Reports that Apple Stores are setting up teams to target small local businesses
    Data Center on schedule and should be completed by the end of the year.
    Conservative for the 4th quarter
      New products have higher component costs which reduces Apple's margins
  Apple explains how it collects geo location data
    Policy was updated June 21st. Any iTunes purchases or downloads after that date required acceptance of the new terms.
    Concerned two U.S. House of Representatives members asked Apple for clarification on how it gathered the data
    When a customer's device sends Wi-Fi, cell tower, GPS, or diagnostic location information to Apple, it does not include any information identifying the particular device or use.
    For iAds, a user's latitude and longitude coordinates are collected anonymously and immediately converted to a five-digit ZIP code. The latitude and longitude coordinates are not maintained.
      iAd server does not match ZIP code info with a particular device or user.
      Advertisers never see the ZIP code info.
    Apple points out that customer can turn off location services completely or on an app by app basis.
      They are also notified when an app first want to activate location services and must allow it it do so.
      An icon also appears on the device anytime location services are active and in the Location Services setting it shows which apps have activated location services in the past 24 hours.
  iTunes 9.2.1 update
    Disables older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins
    Addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items
    Addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2
    Addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups
    Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance
  iBooks 1.1.1
    Double tap an image within a book to view it in greater detail.
    Experience books that include audio and video.
    Enjoy substantial performance improvements when reading PDFs.
    Look-up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language.
    Addresses an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete.
    Includes many stability and performance improvements.
    1.1.2 update
      Addresses a bug some users faced when installing the 1.1.1 update.
  iPhone 4 dropped call rate gets perspective
    Gruber found a publicly available powerpoint that put AT&T Dec '09 network dropped call rate a 0.91%
      Assume the 3GS dropped calls were slightly higher than network average, 1-1.5%
      Jobs said iPhone 4 was <1 per 100 higher than 3GS. That means it' s rate is 1.5 to 2 times more.
      Still about the 2% range which isn;t too bad.
    BGR found a more recent numbers given to Tech-Ex website in response to a ChangeWave survey. AT&T said the numbers were 1.44 % for AT&T network in March 2010.
    Important to note that the cause of the drops is not a factor nor is the distribution mentioned.
      I imagine NYC, SFO, etc are higher rates and other locations are better.
      In Q&A Apple noted it takes 3 years to get a new cell tower approved for San Francisco. 3 Weeks in TX.
      Gruber himself points out "the iPhone 4 gets usable reception in areas where previous iPhones got none. Those may well comprise many of the extra dropped calls."
  iPhone 4 Free Bumper program
    Free refunds already credited to customers who paid by credit card in store
      If you paid cash then you need to go back with your receipt
      Fill out a rebate coupon if you purchased your Bumper at AT&T
    Free app to submit order for free case
      Shipping in 3-5 weeks.
    Available in all countries where iPhone 4's have been sold.
    Case choices
      Apple Bumper (Black)
      Incase Snap Case for iPhone 4 (Smoke or Clear)
      Belkin Shield Micra for iPhone 4 (Clear)
      Griffin Motif iPhone 4 Diamonds/Smoke or the Griffin Reveal Etch iPhone 4 - Black/Black Graphite
      Speck Fitted Case iPhone 4 (Black Tartan) or the Speck PixelSkin HD iPhone 4 (Black)
    If you already bought one of the 3rd party cases it doesn't look like you'll get a refund.
  White iPhone delayed until end of the year
    Official announcement from Apple on Thursday.
    Just two days after Q3 results call where they said end of July
    Week after the "Antenna" press conference where Jobs announced the end of July ship date.
    The black iPhone will launch on July 30th in 17 other countries.
      Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
  Apple prepping retail for iMac refresh?
    AppleInsider says Apple began advising its direct and indirect sales channels of near-term shortages of iMacs
    No more stock of the entry level 21.5-inch, 3.06GHz iMac for in-store pick-up
      I didn't even know it was an option
      Apple launched a "Reserve and Pick Up" program in Nov. 2009
      Now good luck finding the links on their site. I Googled for it.
    Dual Core i5 Models, Quad Core i5s and i&s, and possibly Core i3s at the entry level.
    USB 3.0 support and a faster FireWire interface
    Mac Pros are also reportedly "out of stock" at several locations.
    I don't know if the "In store pickup" feature can be used as an indicator. I imagine in store stock goes up and down on a daily basis.
      On-line orders are still shipping in 24hrs for both iMacs and Mac Pros.
    Sidenote: Buzzing of an iLife Refresh
      iLife '10 or '11
      Out mid-August (in line with iLife '08 release timeframe)
      Apps all 64-bit, dropping iDVD, new "mystery" app. All new iWeb (HTML 5?)
      Mystery app: Make you own iTunes Album or iTunes Extra content. iBooks?
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      Some of the most popular Twitter Clients, Writing apps, and more.
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Feedback, Comments and Commentary
  Follow-up on using star ratings
    From Robert. Mark tracks you want to delete on your iPod as 1 star. then when you sync back to iTunes you can quickly identify them for removal.
      Hold down Option when you delete it from a playlist and it will also remove the track from the main library and move it to the trash.
    Rate tracks from the Dock or the Menubar
      Control+Click the iTunes icon in the dock, select Rating, and assign it stars
      Michael points out "I Love Stars" from Potion Factory. Give you the ability to rate the currently playing iTunes track from the menubar.
      And if you want to control iTunes from the menubar too he points out Synergy (5 euro)
  A better explanation of de-tuning
    Play comment from Ted
    We Have Communicators podcast with Spencer Webb of Antennasys
    Bridging the gap is not causing the antennas frequencies to mix.
      Your body is changing the characteristics of the cellular antenna. Like grabbing a vibrating bell.
      Also the "hot spot" is that gap which is the connection point for the antenna.
      Signal strength can play a roll in the severity of the effect.
    Solution is to allow space (air) around the antenna.
      That's why the effect is minimized with internal antennas
      Also, the hot spot was on the back of older phones, now on side.
      On the back the natural "cupping" while holding provided a natural space for air around the antenna.
      Bumper or cases provide that "pocket" between your hand and the antenna hot spot.
    Tape and stickers have to be pretty thick (a mm or so) to help. A couple thousandths of an inch won't help.
  Print your own Cards from iPhoto
    Many people are aware of the Card, Book, and Calendar features of iPhoto
    But you don't have to buy them from Apple
    Play with the different designs and themes.
      Themes:
        Holidays, events, etc.
        Card vs. postcard
      Color
      Design
        The Picture Card, Picture Collage, and Year and review designs offer a lot of options
        Embed "text" and titles into photos using the cards
      Adjust
        Select photos and adjust. B&W, Sepia, Antique presets. Color, exposure, contrast.
      Settings
        Control fonts and turn off "Apple Logo"
    Print
      Order from Apple
      Print direct to Photo Card stock or Postcard stock
        You'll need to play with print setting a lot to get a workflow that works
      Print to PDF
        Open in Preview to get more control of printing or convert to JPG/PNG, etc.
        Print PDF to iPhoto to enable other sharing options, like email.
  Time for your quarterly security reminder
    A couple of Mac security warnings this month, so be diligent.
    Malicious websites could use Auto-fill, plus Javascript to scan for and post saved password and credit card data
      Consider turning off auto-fill and clearing existing data
      Know what sites you visit. In Safari View-->Show Status Bar (Command+Slash). Hover over links in Mail to get URL tooltip.
    ArsTechnica reports that Apple has displaced Oracle as the company with the most security vulnerabilities in its software, according to security company Secunia.
      Report is on just number of flaws not severity
      All software is considered, so not just Apple's or the OS, but also 3rd party
      Quicktime, Safari, iTunes (quicktime via extension), Adobe (Flash and Reader), Java (Oracle)
      Keep your software up-to-date
  Converting VHS to H.264
    I finally began this project and here is my experience so far
    Finding a VHS player ain't easy
    Using the Elgato Video Capture device and software
      Makes it dead simple.
      USB to composite or S-video. Conversion done in software
      Wizard walks you through the set up
        Video, audio, capture.
        Trim and then send to QuickTime, iTunes, iMovie, or upload to YouTube.
      Great features
        H.264 or MPEG-4. Encodes directly, so it's fast.
        640x480 max resolution, but appropriate given the source content.
          Looks as good as source material.
        Adjust video color, contrast, etc. Adjust audio gain.
        Auto stop the capture based on length (10,30,60,90,120, or 180 mins.)
        Mute sound during capture
      A few minor issues
        Occasionally I am getting what I think are a dropped frame or two
        Switching to discreet GPU seemed to help, but now I get "crackling" pass through audio (not in capture though)
        Can only trim ends, unlike Turbo.264
    Adding metadata with Meta X
  Recovering a deleted iTunes Library
    Play comment from Chris
    Prosoft Data Rescue 3
    Reminder about the 3 places rule.
    Apps that use Song Fingerprint
      MusicBrainz database and AmpliFIND music ID
      Jaikoz
      SongGenie and CoverScout
Closing
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  New Music
    "One Perfect Day" by Adrienne Pierce
    From Musicalley
    Artist's site
    Other music available on iTunes
  EOL: Darth's iPhone 4 Support Call
    An Apple support rep gets a call from the dark side on the iPhone 4 antenna issue